Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis

Search for anything on my site

Te bible for clinicians ,The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) placed
bipolar disorder in a new category—“Bipolar
and Related Disorders.”
Bipolar disorder involves two poles: mania and depression. During manic episodes,
people feel up or elevated, sometimes excited, happy and on top of the world. During depressive episodes, they feel down, unhappy, and hopeless. It's not that simple though. Mania does not always feel good, and the symptoms can be more complicated. Many people feel irritable, and can have outbursts when manic, and also, the episodes are not that clear cut. They can experience what are called mixed states where they may feel manic and depressed at the same time. This is especially true for children. Or, they may feel anxious, along with their particular mood state.

There are many symptoms of bipolar that overlap with other disorders,
and they occur on a spectrum. They vary in severity in different individuals and
over the course of one's life.

I’ve been working with bipolar children and
adults for most of my career. I run an online facebook support group that I
developed as an offshoot of a local support group for parents of children with
bipolar disorder. You can find the link to this group here.

In order to understand bipolar disorder diagnosis in
children, it helps to understand bipolar disorder is diagnosed in adults.

According to the DSM V , a specific number of symptoms must occur within a
specified time frame in order to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

It's important that we get this diagnosis right. People with bipolar disorder can wait as long as 10 years to get a correct diagnosis according to some estimates! .

The details of the diagnostic criteria and the time frames
are below. Bipolar disorder in children has become a controversial diagnosis. Some of the difficulty in diagnosis
of bipolar in children is that they don't have their own criteria. The difficulty with these adult criteria is that the time frames for episodes are
not applicable to children.

Children’s EPISODES may last minutes and hours instead of
days. The outward expression of
depression and mania also look somewhat different in children. This is one of
our core problems in diagnosing bipolar disorder in children. You can learn
about this in a radio interview I did here.

This page will explain some of the basic information
necessary for understanding the diagnosis of bipolar disorder. This page is
linked to many more pages about bipolar disorder in both children and adults.
Scroll down to the bottom and check them all out!

To understand how bipolar disorder diagnosis is made, it is
important to understand the concept of episodes. Episodes and their length are
how psychiatric professionals determine whether someone meets the criteria for
bipolar disorder.

It is important to note that even with these guidelines in
place, mental health professionals make mistakes all the time when diagnosing
bipolar disorder. Sometimes they diagnose it when it’s not there, and sometimes
they don’t see it when it is there. Other pages on the site will go into more
detail describing this. The purpose of this page is simply to describe the
current system mental health professionals use when diagnosing bipolar
disorder. I hope it's helpful.

Episodes

Major Depressive Episode

All of the symptoms below must occur most of every day for
two weeks

They musts represent a change in how you or your child has been functioning

the symptoms cannot be due to another medical condition

Symptoms

Either a depressed mood (in children this can be
irritability)

or

No pleasure or interest in previously enjoyed activities or
any activities

and

4 of the other symptoms below:

Weight loss or gain or decrease increase in appetite

Not sleeping or sleeping too much

Feeling restless or slowed down

Fatigue or loss of energy

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate
guilt

Impaired concentration or difficulty making decisions

Recurrent thoughts of death , thinking of suicide with or
without a plan or a suicide attempt

Distress or impairment in functioning

Cannot be due to substance use or medicine or a meidcal condition

Manic Episode

Manic Episode

Symptoms are present to a significant degree for a
week. This mood state must cause some
kind of an impairment in functioning, a hospitalization or be accompanied by
psychosis.

3 or more of the symptoms below accompany a week of elevated
or expansive mood -

or

4 or more symptoms accompany and irritable mood

Symptoms

inflated self-esteem or grandiosity

decreased need for sleep

more talkative than usual or pressure to keep talking

flight of ideas or racing thoughts

easily distracted

increase in goal-directed activity

psycho-motor agitation

excessive involvement in pleasurable activities that have a
high potential for painful consequences (gambling spending money sexual
activity)

Hypomanic Episodes

At least 4 days of period of elevated, expansive, or (irritable mood if child especially), and abnormal and persistent increased activity and energy that lasts:

at least 4 days

is present most of the day and

nearly every day.

During these days also 3 of these symptoms ( 4 if only and irritable mood is present )

Inflated Self Esteem

Decreased Need for Sleep

More talkative than usual

Flight of ideas or feeling like thoughts are racing

Easily dis tractable

Increased goal directed activity or agitated physically

Excessive involvement in activities that have potential for painful consequences

This is observable by others

Indicates a departure from normal functioning

Does NOT CAUSE significant impairment in functioning to necessitate hospitalization. If there are psychotic features it is manic.

Not caused by substances or medication. If caused by treatment and persists beyond treatment it is indicative of hypomania.

Types of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar I

Bipolar I

Bipolar I consists of one or more manic episode.

Technically no depressive episode must be present but it almost
always is.

Bipolar I = a manic episode

Bipolar II

Bipolar type II consists of one major depressive episode and
at least one hypomanic episode. A
person cannot be diagnosed with Bipolar type II disorder if they have had a
manic episode.

Bipolar II = Major Depressive Episode + Hypomania

Cyclothymia

Cyclothymia
is a mood disorder that consists of two years of episodes of hypo mania and low
grade depression. To be diagnosed with
cyclothymia, you cannot have had a major depressive, or manic episode
during the first two year period of time.

Other Specified Bipolar and Related Disorder and Unspecified Bipolar and Related Disorder.

Specified is usually given when symptoms do not meet specific criteria but cause sufficient problems in functioning. Unspecified is usually diagnose when there is not enough information due to inadequate records or history.

Children who don't meet episodic criteria will often carry this diagnosis

Bipolar and Related Disorder Due to Another Medical Condition

A period of elevated, expansive, or irritable mood and increased
activity or energy

B. There is evidence this is caused by another medical condition.

C. The is not
better explained by another mental health condition

D. This does not occur during delirium

E. The disturbance causes disturbance in functioning in life, requires hospitalization
or has psychotic features

Substance/Medication-Induced Bipolar and Related Disorder

1.A disturbed mood is present that is elevated expansive
or irritable with or without a depressed mood or diminished interest in all
activities

2.This occurred during or after substance
intoxication or withdrawal

3.This actual substance can produce the mood disturbance

4.The symptoms weren’t there before the substance
or medication

5.The symptoms didn’t persist for a m month after
the intoxication or withdrawal

6.There isn’t a history of the episodes without the
medication or substance

7.The mood disturbance didn’t occur during the
course of delirium

8.The disturbance causes significant distress.

Specifiers

When diagnosing bipolar disorder, clinicians will use specifiers to describe more about the the particular kind of bipolar they are seeing.

These are some of the ways the describe bipolar disorder

Bipolar with:

Anxious Distress This specifier allows to identify anxiety symptoms that are not part of the bipolar
diagnostic criteria.

Mixed Features This specifier allows us to categorize an episode where we see features of both mania and depression

Melancholic Features. This is subtype of depression where people feel worse in the morning, early morning waking and guilt among other things.

Atypical Features Mood reactivity and 2 (or more) of 4 features (increased
appetite or weight gain, hypersomnia, leaden paralysis, interpersonal reaction
sensitivity) predominate during the majority of days of current episode of depression.

Peripartum onset; Beginning during the period of pregnancy and 4 weeks after delivery. It applies
to: current or recent episode of mania, depression or hypomania in Bipolar 1 or Bipolar II

Psychotic Features- presence of delusions or hallucinations at any time
in the episode

Catatonic Features -these features include rigidity staring withdrawing and immobility.

Rapid cycling(for BD I or BD II)- presence of at least four mood episodes
in previous 12 months that meet criteria for manic, hypomanic or depressive
episode.

Seasonal Pattern- Seasonal pattern
has to last at least 2 years, and the number of seasonal episodes must outnumber all nonseasonal episodes

All content and media on the this website is created and published online for informational purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice and should not be relied on as health or personal advice.

Always seek the guidance of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition. Never disregard the advice of a medical professional, or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this Website.

If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor, go to the nearest hospital emergency department, or call the emergency services immediately. If you choose to rely on any information provided by this website, you do so solely at your own risk.